chopshopcustoms
Forum Replies Created
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yes- dont do business with them. Simple as that- He isnt a customer. A Customer pays their bill. You arent the bank and even then THEY dont hold checks….
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I used to get a lot of clients who just ‘stop by’ . Ill chat for about 10-15 minutes and then tell them I need to keep working or the car(s) im doing wont get it done.
Most of them understand -and the ones that dont usually get the hint as I just continue to work and talk above the noise…
Im happy to chat but please dont take the time away from another client – its just not fair to shortchange someone else.
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she is not selling work- she is our Office Admin
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Its possible. More on the lines of she may want to become more friendly with them (maybe to say she ‘knows’ them)?
Not sure.
She is a bit better since one of them actually told her he ‘didnt have time for chit chat’- I think it may have hit home….
And no NASCAR clients yet!
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oh… my guys (and girls) are tough but it just is hard when the tools slip out of their hands…lol
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I will disagree with your disagree
Mary IS the right person- this is a small portion of her role here- I just need to find a way to curb it and am looking for suggestions- this concern was not about her abilities but rather how to make her a better employee here.
This position is not for everyone- it is high stress , fast paced and takes someone who has administartive abilities while having a classic car restoration background.- few and far between to find.
If anyone knows of a good training class, webinar or something along that line she can attend or watch or ways to have her learn the fine art of professional communication better- Id appreciate it.
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I have ceiling fans but there are times it can be 110 in here in the summer months. And I would much rather not be open when that happens as opposed to having to send the staff home because it just too hot to work.
I think we have decided to try the 4 day week for July and possibly doing the Wednesday for the day out of the shop- allowing me to be there if I choose to meet with clients or run errands to vendors etc and nto cut into my evenigns or Saturday time with my family. I need to cut back working over 100 hours each week.
My office staff will remain the same schedule (but we will not tell the public so she can have a day to do stuff ininterrupted as well) – just not the shop staff (techs). We will see how it goes and possibly extend it into August.
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Is Mary getting the work done? yes and no. I find items missing becaus she has put them away and others left hanging – not always consitent.
How many clients have commented she babbles? Three currently- out of the current 15 I have who pay me well over $100K to build high end vehicle for them. They are CEOs, CFO’s and COOs as well as celebrities and other high profile individuals.My concern is that she wastes their time and can also come off as an idiot (not that strong but not sure what other term right now) because she is literally talking in circles about nothing.
Vendors ‘wasting’ time: They arent- they are telling me they can’t get her off the phone at times because she ‘talks about nothing’ or tries to make chit chat.
Im worried that her chatter mouth is hurting my business and causing clients to not call because they will have to spend 1/2 hour with Mary for a quick question or issue.Communication is key in my end of the industry and she ISNT always communicating clearly.My clients dont want to be her coffee buddy- they want to deal with the situation at hand and move on to the rest of their day.
That being said- she IS the right person to be in my fast paced office- just need her to focus her conversations and need to find a way to constructively teach her how- hence why I thought of a customer service class of some kind.
ralph jarvis wrote:
> 1) is “mary’ getting the work done?
> 2) 1 or 2 clients have commented – out of how many that haven’t
> 3) most importantly your “vendors” should know better than to waste your staff’s time/ yourtime. even the tool salesman knows better than to waste time with techs.
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> there have been quite a few things i have learned from what may seem like simple conversation to some onlookers/bosses
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we use (dont laugh) http://www.hotrodprocessing.com and have been very happy
Larry McGuire
Mann Merchant Processing Systems
larrym@mannmps.com I http://www.mannmps.com
Office: 610-882-1200 / 877-333-6266
Fax: 610-819-0899
make sure to tell him I suggested you call for info- Larry is a great guy
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thats the thing- they arent abaondoned. They are one-two year projects in a resto shop where they just take a few months off of paying. How do I get the clients to stay on schedule with their payments?
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I’d offer free pick up of the person to come get their vehicle and free rides back to where they live if I had a collision shop.
Try not to use a lot of mareketing terms too- just basic honest info-you can do it better and for less and still high quality.
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Twitter/Facebook fan page/ MySPace/You Tube /Linked In- just to name a few and usually offer some kind of special deal at least 2-3 times a month. (and some are just for the people who watch the page- they have to mention where they heard of the offer to use it) Sometimes its great to have a wife who does marketing
Our facebook fan page has over 4600 fans. Unheard of for a small shop like mine.
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yes, we think that may be the route to travel- even if its only for a probationary period so he can see the fruits (or lack of) of his labor.
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not at all- the rest of the team works way harder than I actually think they need to. this is ONE individual- Trying to find the right balance to get him back on track.
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Hey Ollie- not sure if that IS the answer- he is a great tech with the older stuff- not everyone can do that. I just need to tery to get him motivated to do that work I guess.
He is an AA member- for 15 years- not sure if the ;aid back attitude stemms from that at all? MY step father has the same way of lookign at life- might be part of the alcoholic profile? (not sure and he is stone cold sober and not off the wagon or doing drugs )
As for finding staff- where do you advertise? Websites are where people look now- not the papwre- maybe try auto-tech usa( I think thats the name) It was good forme when I was in the dealership world for finding staff and also maybe a local headhunter- they are great to weed out the people not qualified
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people say yoga works or mayeb a gym to get the stress out. I have been thinking of joining a gym (way out of my comfort zone!) to see if it helps too.
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Nothing that I dont already tell them- time and time again-AND in writing- its so hard around this time of year.
If I hear one more time about ‘having to get present for my kids’ …
People always forget that OUR kids/families etc should be able to have ‘wants and not just ‘needs ‘ too.
Myles Swift wrote:
> Lenny,
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> To paraphrase the policies of a high end restoration shop on the left coast doing long term restorations.
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> 1. If you need a delivery date, don’t leave the car here
> 2. Leave the car and $5,000 (this was several years ago so maybe $10K now)
> 3. We will call you when the $5,000 is gone and go over the work to date.
> 4. You have two weeks to decide if you want us to continue. If you don’t make a decision by then we start charging $25 a day storage fee.
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> These guys were doing primarily Jags and had a contact in England finding NOS parts and scrounging barns and estate sales.
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Guess you realy didnt read about my shop then. These are ongoing 2-3 year projects- I dont do collision work on Mechanical- we are a higher end classic car resto shop.
Our invoices are due upon receipt and some clients can take up to 30 days to pay something that I should have received back in 5 days or so. Most like to come in and see their progress if they are local as well.
Its not like I have 100 cars a week traveling through my shop- we dont do volume-I have about 15 projects right now – some in waiting because of financial delays on the client’s end and just taking up valuable shop space.
If I push them outside- it could cause more damage to untreated metal that its worth- causing more headaches in the long run.
Its not like we are talking $5000 restos here- we average $50K and above for work so every invoice is in the $2000-3500 range.
I have started to ask for credit cards- which does help a bit.Still frustrating though
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for some of them we do- some are so old their contracts were destroyed in a water damage situation we had a few years back.
These project arent in and out either- some have taken 2-3 years to even get to this point.
